A tapeworm infection is usually diagnosed by finding eggs or tapeworm segments in the stool. Your doctor may ask you to bring in a sample so a lab can look for eggs, larvae, or tapeworm segments. A blood test can spot antigens, foreign substances that let your doctor know your body is trying to fight the infection.
Diagnosis for tapeworm infection is usually done through detection of eggs and proglottids (worm segments) via a stool test, although many patients' tapeworms are detected when they find proglottids in their own stool or in the toilet. It's not possible to determine which species of tapeworm is present without testing.
Although adult tapeworms in the intestine usually cause no symptoms, some people experience upper abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Occasionally, people with a tapeworm can feel a piece of the worm move out through the anus or see part of the ribbon-like tapeworm in stool.
A tapeworm in the intestines often causes mild symptoms. Moderate to severe symptoms may include stomach pain and diarrhea. Larval cysts can cause serious disease if they are in a person's brain, liver, lungs, heart or eyes.
If you have a tapeworm infection, you may not have any symptoms. But some people have nausea, stomach pain, weakness, or diarrhea. You might notice a change in appetite (eating more or less than usual). And since the tapeworm keeps your body from absorbing nutrients from food, you may lose weight.
Left untreated, adult tapeworms can live in a host body for up to 30 years. Their length varies, but they can grow to be anywhere from 6 to 22 feet.
Taeniasis can cause mild and non-specific symptoms, including abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea or constipation when the tapeworms become fully developed in the intestine.
Tapeworm infections are rare in the United States. When they do happen, they're easy to treat. Often, people may not know they have a tapeworm infection because they have no symptoms or their symptoms are mild.
Your health care provider treats a tapeworm infection in the intestines with anti-parasitic drugs. These include: Praziquantel (Biltricide). Albendazole.
In rare cases, tapeworm segments become lodged in the appendix, or the bile and pancreatic ducts. Infection with T. solium tapeworms can result in human cysticercosis, which can be a very serious disease that can cause seizures and muscle or eye damage.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. In one study, researchers found that a mixture of honey and papaya seeds cleared stools of parasites in 23 out of 30 subjects. Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system.
Tapeworms (Cestodes)
After ingestion, they develop into larvae, which can move out of the intestines and form cysts in different tissues, for example, lungs and liver. The infection of tapeworms in the intestine usually causes no symptoms.
Diarrhea. Nausea or vomiting. Gas or bloating. Dysentery (loose stools containing blood and mucus)
The adult tapeworm is made up of many small segments, called proglottids, each about the size of a grain of rice. Adult tapeworms may measure 4-28 inches in length. As the tapeworm matures inside the intestine, these segments (proglottids) break off and pass into the stool.
Once ingested, cysticerci attach to the small intestine and develop into adult tapeworms over the course of 2 months.
Anyone who has a tapeworm will need medical treatment to get rid of it. Treatment is about 95% effective and typically takes a few days.
According to a study, papaya seeds are highly effective against parasitic worms, including tapeworm. The best way to have seeds is to mix them with honey. And if you are willing to have the fruit, then for best results ferment the cubes in apple cider vinegar for a day and then consume.
Mix three or four tablespoons of hot water with one tablespoon of raw papaya juice and honey to kill tapeworms. Take it on an empty stomach, and two hours later, drink a glass of warm milk mixed with castor oil.
Sometimes, individuals with taeniasis can see tapeworm segments (called proglottids) being passed through the anus and in the stool. Taeniasis can lead to urticaria, an itchy rash of weals and hives.
Rope worms are long structures that sometimes occur in the intestines. They are likely a buildup of intestinal mucus and debris and may pass in a person's stool during an enema or other clearing procedure. Some researchers claim that rope worms are parasites, while others believe them to be intestinal debris.
Symptoms may include diarrhoea, tiredness and weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. Some worms cause anaemia.